The List: Xoco

What's The List about? Click here!

Last December, Bossyboots and I visited Rick Bayless' Topolobampo.  YUM!  Because I'm a Rick Bayless fan, his more casual restaurant Xoco was also on my "to visit" restaurant list and I made that happen just recently.  Xoco is a breakfast and lunch joint modelled after mexican street food.  Tortas make up a major part of their menu, and their buzzy items are their in-house chocolate and churros.  See some lunchy proof:

I started with the cubana torta - Smoked Maple Creek pork loin and bacon, black beans, avocado, artisan Jack cheese, chipotle mustard.  Aaaaaaaand I had to finish with the churros, for more than obvious reasons.

Overall, it was bit a of a heavy lunch for me, but SO delicious.  I highly recommend Xoco for a scrumptious lunch (go early, the line goes out the door!!!), but schedule yourself a light dinner - you'll thank me!  Highly recommended.

XOCO - 449 North Clark Street (enter on Illinois St.), Chicago, IL 60654

New Orleans - Bring on the Gators!

Earlier this month, three girlfriends and I set off on a cajun adventure.  Goober, Wrigley-T, and I flew in from Chicago - our bud Bruiser set off from NYC... all of us on a New Orleans adventure!

There were planes...

Elevator photo shoots...

Streetcar rides...

Oysters (and the coldest beers on earth!) at Cooter Browns...

Frosty beverages...

LOTS of synchronized swimming (they should join the Olympic team, don't you think?)!

A fancytimes dinner at John Besh's August (highly recommend!) - where Goober discovered that elusive treat known as bacon bourbon...

I mean REALLY - so delicious!

Plenty of night-walking...

And of course we had to go on a swamp tour... GATORS!!!  See how scared everyone was?? (except for Goober, she is always cool as a cucumber!)  

Bruiser brought gummy gators for us to enjoy all weekend long, and of course we had to bring them along to meet their namesake!

Based on a recommendation from one of our friends that grew up there, we chose Honey Island Swamp Tours out in Slidell, LA.  For $45, they'll pick you up from your hotel and then take you out to meet those impressive reptiles...

We all agreed that the swamp tour was the best part of our entire weekend.  It was so cool to see alligators up close, something us city folk never ever get to see.  

Check out the gators (and their gummy counterparts) in action!

We ate a lot, drank a lot, and then ate some more on our trip.  We stayed at the Hotel Montelone (highly recommend.)  I'll take New Orleans over Vegas any day for a quick weekend getaway.  What are your favorite NOLA spots?

Cleansing via Cooler

A couple weeks ago, I got in touch with my inner hippie and underwent a cleanse.  You know, one of those no solid food for several days cleanses.  The crazy people cleanse.

I kid. I kid.

I never saw myself as someone who'd do the whole cleanse thing.  I'm a pretty practical person who eats average food.  And by average I mean that I eat meat, I cook, I indulge in unhealthy foods sometimes.  I don't usually do fad diets - I work out regularly.  To me, my thought was always... why spend exorbitant amounts of money just to be hungry all the time?  And I really didn't see any concrete evidence that cleanses do anything physically helpful.  

Anyway, back in January, several of my friends did the Cooler Cleanse...

...and they RAVED about it.  So much so that they pretty much evangelized for the program.  Now, I may be a skeptical person by nature, but I am a chump for new experiences.  If I haven't done it, I want to do it ASAP.  Except sky diving - I'll experience that from the ground. (!)

So, I decided to quit being a naysayer and just try it.  After all, I can't dog something I've never tried, right?  I judge people that criticize things they've never experienced themselves.  Experience teaches you many things that Google just can't translate.  

Finally, I navigated my browser on over to the Cooler Cleanse website to order.  My intention had been to go big or go home and do the 5-day cleanse; however, they only start cleanses on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (due to shipping time and the juices are time-sensitive).  My schedule just wouldn't allow me to accommodate a 5-day cleanse due to many weekend social engagements.  I'm brave, but not brave enough to tote weird, labelled juices to my friends' birthday parties.  I can freely admit that.

So, 3-day cleanse it was!  The $73 in shipping kind of made me black out in shock for a moment, but... oh well.  The daily charge for the juices is actually cheaper than many other cleanse programs.  Once I hit "confirm", I was committed!  

On a Tuesday morning in February, a big box full of chilled juices arrived at my doorstep.  The juices are all raw and hard-pressed - you have to start your cleanse right away in order to preserve their nutritional value, since there are no preservatives.  The juices are numbered 1-6, and you drink them in order - one juice every two hours.  Daily, you are consuming less than 1,100 calories via the juices.

Here's my review of the juices:

Juices #1 and #3 (you drink this juice twice daily): ESSENTIAL GREEN

Essential Green is delicious - it's kind of like Naked's Green Monster.  I was surprised to find that I really, really loved this one, in spite of the scary green color.  It tastes like a lemony glass of fresh.

Juice #2 : GRAPEFRUIT AND MINT

As might be expected, this was my favorite drink, and I downed it in 5 minutes flat every day.  People that are new to cleansing do better with the fruity juices - also expected.  I'm a newbie, what can I say.

Juice #4: COCONUT WATER

Oh my god, coconut water is the worst.  You hear coconut and you think delicious - it's a cruel practical joke, people.  It took me a good 2.5 hours to drink this on the first day.  Bossyboots tried a sip and immediately called me crazy for drinking it.  The funny thing is that I only hated it on the first day.  The second day of drinking this was easier, and on the last day, I had no problem drinking it at a normal pace.  Hint: squeeze fresh lime into it (Thanks HisBirdiesNest for the tip!)

Juice #5: ESSENTIAL RED

This juice was super tangy, and I enjoyed it.  The taste is similar to Essential Green, but the tang is definitely ramped up.  Thumbs up.

Juice #6: ALMOND NUT MILK

The idea behind this drink seems to be "milkshake".  I am a milk drinker, but this was a strange drink for me because it comes from nuts, vanilla beans, and dates.  I am used to skim cow's milk, and this was just very different for me.  The taste is good, but it took me a minute to get used to the odor that comes off of the milk.  Again, good taste - I just had a hard time with the smell.  It was by no means a coconut water experience, however.

Every day, I drank my juices, and I didn't cheat once.  I stuck to the program religiously.  You want to know the truly crazy thing?  I loved Cooler Cleanse!  I wasn't hungry once, even though I know that's hard to believe.  Not once did I have tummy rumbles.  I felt energetic and alert, and I lost a few pounds.

My takeaway?  I was kind of surprised at the results.  In the weeks after my cleanse, I am much more aware of overeating.  Sugar and starches in particular don't taste so great to me anymore.  While juicing, I was impressed by how CLEAR the tastes were.  That grapefruit juice tasted exactly like a turbo grapefruit, unhampered by extra sugar.  My experience was definitely eye-opening.  

Like many people, I definitely have an emotional eating side to me.  While on the cleanse, that option to eat mindlessly was taken away from me - I have to say it was kinda nice.  The times that I thought "Oh I'm hungry"... after a moment I realized that I WASN'T really hungry.  My stomach wasn't feeling hungry; my heart was.  

Would I do this again?  Heck, yes.  Next time, I'd like to go for the 5-day cleanse and see how that goes.  I'm actually thinking about buying myself a juicer and doing regular cleanses on my own.  Consider this skeptic converted.  Viva la juice!

*This is not a sponsored post; I just had a great experience and wanted to share it with you all!

Meat, Meat, and More Meat.

With a side of meat. :)

I was first introduced to Korean BBQ (REAL Korean BBQ, not the chain stuff) by my friend Goober about a year and a half ago.  We hadn't been on a KBBQ outing in a long time, so we were due!  Last weekend we went to our favorite spot: Hai Woon Dae.  It's in a strip mall, and the proprietors are incredibly nice - and then there's the food...

When you arrive, firstly, I recommend leaving your coat in your car.  Korean BBQ is smoky smoky, and will make you smell hilarious, so leave anything extra in your car.  We were a large enough group that we were afforded a private room, which was so nice - also meaning that we needed to go shoe-free.

Goober has cute shoes.

Somehow Goober often ends up in charge of ordering for everyone at dinnertime.  Basically, the rule is to just eat whatever Goober tells you to eat because it will be delicious.

See! We don't even bother looking at the menu.

Korean BBQ can involve lots and lots of meat!!!  Goober ordered pork, chicken, beef, short rib, shrimp, and squid.  Mmmmmm good. 

In Korean BBQ, each table is set with mini grills, so that you cook up your own meat.

You also receive many small plates of condiments/side dishes. Lettuce for wrapping, bean paste, bean sprouts - the list goes on an on.  Hilariously, the potato salad is most popular.

Spicy noodles!

Here is where I need some clarification - as far as drinks, we order O.B. beer, which is kind of like PBR, but Korean, and we love it.  It comes in a forty size, which is perfect for us.  Also, you can order this potato alcohol which is a cross between vodka and sake.  It's potent.  It's delicious.  Be careful, son.

We toasted at every opportunity with it!  I can't remember the name - I'm sure one of you knows, so put it in the comments!

Two of my sisters are South Korean, and so growing up we always had kimchi around our house.  Somehow I never tried it myself!!!  Tonight was the night.... and I actually really enjoyed it.

I cannot express to you the crazy amount of food we ordered.

It was K-Spice's birthday celebration - say Happy Birthday!

Happy to have gorged myself on BBQ.

Lots of laughing and fun!

This picture sums up about how we felt after two hours of eating!

There's just something about communal eating experiences that's different from restaurants where everyone orders their own meal.  Sharing the cooking/eating/sampling of all kinds of food is just special.  We had a great time, and I highly recommend Hai Woon Dae if you're in Chicago... And be sure to wear your eating pants!

Sexy Desserts: Chocolate Bouchons

Really, "bouchons" is just a fancy word for what turns out to be tiny cakes... Tiny cakes full of DELICIOUS!

My sisters Tweets and Abs sent me a lovely birthday present:

So I decided to try my new kitchen tools out and make these:

Both the bouchon silicone mold and the pastry gun worked perfectly - I totally recommend them!

I just followed the recipe on the back of the Williams Sonoma bouchon box, but then used the pastry gun to add a little shot of whipped cream on the inside - see?  I think these would go really great with a bit of sipping brandy on the side.

So basically, I made ho-hos.  Really addictive ho-hos.  I made twelve, and I ate six of them myself. !!

Here's how I did it:

Chocolate Bouchons

*From Williams Sonoma

INGREDIENTS:

• 5T unsalted butter
• 3oz bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3T cocoa powder
• 1/2tsp baking powder
• 1/8tsp salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• Confectioners' sugar for serving
• Penny's Addition: Whipped cream for filling (homemade or store-bought if you're feeling lazy like I was)
• Penny's Addition: Raspberries for serving

*You'll also need something like a pastry gun to fill the bouchons with whatever filling you'd like (I used whipped cream because it's fluffy) and a bouchon mold on a baking sheet.  However, I'm sure you could use a mini cupcake pan just as easily.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.  Set the bouchon mold on a baking sheet.

Melt the butter and chocolate.  You can microwave it, but I don't recommend this method - too easily burned.  Also, I am superstitious about mysterious microwave radiation.  :)  Stir occasionally, and then let the mixture cool for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

 In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg and vanilla until combined.  Set aside.  NOTE: Yellow food in yellow bowls make for confusing photos.

Add the chocolate mixture to the eggy mixture until incorporated, then whisk in the flour mixture til it's all combined and fingerlicking-worthy.

 Scoop 2T of the batter into the mold.  DO NOT overfill the molds like I did.  In order for the chocolate to bake in a corky shape, you don't want the tops to overflow.  After you turn out the bouchons, you will be sifting sugar on the "bottom".  The tops of the mold becomes the bottom; the bottoms become the top.  Got it?  Good.

Once the wells are filled with NOT-TOO-MUCH batter (!!!) then put the bouchon mold - still on the baking sheet - into the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes.  Veer towards slightly underdone, rather than overdone.  You want the cakes to be moist, not dry like a brownie top.  You should be able to insert a toothpick and have it come out mostly clean with just a few crumbs.

After baking, let your cakes cool for at least 15 minutes.  I let mine cool for 30, because 15 wasn't long enough... they were still too warm to turn out in one piece.  Once the cakes are cooled and turned out, poke holes in their booties to fill them with whipped cream.  Then put the holey side plate-down and sift a little confectioners sugar on top to make them Sexy Cakes.  Add berries on the side and serve!